Aldora Divers Review: Two Tank Solo New Diver Experience Coming off a Cruise Ship

[Wookie]

Funny thing in business...1,000 good reviews spoiled by one inappropriate snarky reply by the owner.

People who love Aldora don’t mind. It won’t even be a blip.

 

[AdivingBel]

People who love Aldora don’t mind. It won’t even be a blip.

Unfortunately for every 1 that loves Aldora there are 10 that haven't tried them and will come on ScubaBoard looking for a Coz dive OP because it's a natural (i.e. Googleable) place to look and as we all know the internet never forgets so...blipity blipity blip... certainly not the end of the world, but not good

 

[Wookie]

They can only handle so much business. Y’all act like they are Walmart or something. Look, a guy posted a review that dave took offense to, and snapped back. Maybe rightly so, maybe not, but I’ve been in the business. If being pissy meant going under, there wouldn’t be a single dive operation on the planet, because dive operators are notorious for being pissy.

It’s like dealing with customers who think they are always right. Dive customers are not only not always right, they do well to sometimes be right. And before you drone on about how they may not be right, but at least they are customers, some customers aren’t worth having. Sometimes it’s just way better to close your shop.

 

[Christi]

Wookie speaks the truth - as much as we love our guests - you can all be real turds sometimes - just like we can. HUMANITY is what that is called!

We are all human, we all have bad days. ALL dive ops screw things up, but the thing that matters is how the situation is resolved or responded to. This was not Dave's best moment - and I don't think anyone is saying that. God knows I've had days of burnout and frustration and poor reactions to guests - I own that and I've come on this very forum with my tail between my legs and apologized - sometimes on my own and sometimes after one of the mods has given me a nudge - I'm not superhuman nor is Dave.

Given the OP's experience, then Dave's response and the defenders on this thread - this fair (not glowing) review was taken out of context and blown out of proportion.

I have empathy for both sides on this one Kiss and make up everyone and sweet dreams!

 

[tridacna]

People who love Aldora don’t mind. It won’t even be a blip.

Wookie, this is not about sycophantic Aldora cheerleaders. This is about people who come to SB to seek info about dive ops in Cozumel. Simple apology would have sufficed and defused the entire situation.

 

[scubafanatic]

Wookie, this is not about sycophantic Aldora cheerleaders. This is about people who come to SB to seek info about dive ops in Cozumel. Simple apology would have sufficed and defused the entire situation.

Isn't 'defused' a very touchy word to be using these days in the Cozumel forum ?

 

[scubafanatic]

I did not see this as a critique of Aldora as much as a "I had great dives, here is what would have made my experience better". I think Dave took this personally, and it wasn't meant that way. It does not alter my perception of Dave, and Aldora is who I dive with when I'm (rarely) in Cozumel. I expect the person at the dive shop who answers emails has explained why s/he didn't respond to the OP, and that will not be an issue in the future.

OTOH, Dave has done this longer than I did. I was tired, cranky, and had had all of the divers I ever wanted to when I had the opportunity to sell. Dave (and indeed Cozumel) has been blasted with bad news in the past week with a State Department warning. I survived the Macondo blowout even though not a drop of oil came ashore in the Florida Keys. So I know where Dave is coming from.

Time to take a deep breath and have a vacation, Dave.

Perhaps it's time for the Cozumel usual suspects to initiate a GoFundMe for Dave's vacation ?

 

[Wookie]

Wookie, this is not about sycophantic Aldora cheerleaders. This is about people who come to SB to seek info about dive ops in Cozumel. Simple apology would have sufficed and defused the entire situation.

Truth. And I’m not saying what Dave did was right. The response was way out of proportion. The response to Dave’s response is typical ScubaBoard.

 

[tomfcrist]

If being pissy meant going under, there wouldn’t be a single dive operation on the planet, because dive operators are notorious for being pissy.

This^^^^^

Heck, there are captains we use up here because they are so pissy. It makes for a fun trip of talking **** and nobody getting their feelings hurt.

 

[Bubblesong]

@DevilEyeDog did you pay extra for private DM, not regular on-board DM, and was that extra charge refunded? If you did not pay extra, this is not repeating “Anita Wong”, but is repeating the thread about Liveaboard.com promising single cabin for shared cabin price.
I also thought the DM sharing air with diver for 20 min instead of immediately returning to boat is horrible. If the OP had an air problem, she could NOT have helped him too.